With or Without You
By: iheartvala
CATEGORY: Angst, Romance
SEASON/SPOILERS: Season 10. “Momento Mori” and “The Quest Part 2”
WARNINGS: None
AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:
http://iheartvala.livejournal.com/
CHAPTER 1: Chocolate
“Hey.” Daniel tip toed into the commissary where Vala was
sitting alone, poking at some chocolate pudding. It was late, as was usually
the case when Daniel found her here. Vala seemed to have a bit of a
She looked up and he was smiling. “Hi.” She replied.
Daniel helped himself to the seat across from her and propped his head up on
both hands. These post traumatic event conversations were becoming all too
familiar for the two, though Daniel would hardly call them conversations. “Did
you enjoy the ribs?”
Vala took a slow bite of her pudding, her dark grey-blue eyes meeting his baby
blues in an intense stare. She chose to ignore the frivolous question…he knew
how much she liked the ribs. “I’m sorry I pointed that gun at you.” She
shrugged. “I didn’t even have my finger on the trigger.”
He sat up. “I know.” Pausing...“But you would have run.”
Vala bit her lip, remembering the day’s earlier events. “I was so scared Daniel.
I kept seeing all these images from Quetesh’s memory, and I…” She struggled,
and Daniel’s expression softened. “I just didn’t want to know where that came
from. I didn’t want to remember that.”
Daniel reached out and entangled his fingers with hers. “It’s perfectly
understandable Vala.”
She laughed. “You know, years ago when I left my home world for good, I told
myself I didn’t need or want a home, ever again. I convinced myself that I
wouldn’t depend on anyone, and I wouldn’t get involved emotionally with anyone.
And yet, when we were standing there in that warehouse and you said the word
home…” She paused and Daniel squeezed her hand gently, scooting as close to the
table and her, as he could get. “…when you said that, I got this image of Teal’c
and Sam, and Colonel Mitchell, and the General…and you. There was this image of
you smiling at me, and I knew…I just knew that was my life; that was my home,
and those were the memories I wanted to remember.”
Vala looked down at the table embarrassed, and swirled her spoon vigorously
through her pudding. Daniel pulled her hand toward his mouth, and gently kissed
her knuckles.
“Daniel…” She looked up at him, eyes glistening with quickly forming tears. “I
don’t think I can be alone tonight.” She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for
his response.
“Well I don’t know about you, but I’m not going to get to sleep for hours, and
I’ve got Teal’c’s copy of Empire Strikes Back in my quarters, just begging to
be watched.” He smiled sweetly at her when she looked up, a little shocked. “Do
you want to join me?”
Vala grabbed some chocolate cookies and a carton of milk, and they retreated to
Daniel’s room.
Sometime very early the next morning Vala awoke to Daniel’s heavy arm crashing
hard down on her head. “Ow.” She whispered, and shoved the arm off her. She was
in Daniel’s bed, and very confused, but when she realized she was still in her
BDU’s, Vala figured she must have fallen asleep during the movie, and Daniel
put her to bed. Though she still wondered why he hadn’t just taken her to her
own quarters. She wouldn’t dare to hope that he had just wanted to spend the
night with her.
He was sleeping soundly next to her, and Vala couldn’t help but giggle at the
smirk on his face. He must have been dreaming.
A few moments later Daniel stretched and yawned and turned toward her, waking
slowly. “Wow, you’re up.” He yawned, noting Vala’s very thoughtful expression.
“Why didn’t you wake me?”
“Oh sorry, I was just thinking.” She kept staring at the ceiling. She knew he
was going to ask what about, so she continued on her own. “I was just thinking
about the last time I slept in the same bed with a man. I was in the Ori
galaxy, and I was with my husband.”
He tentatively spoke the name that rarely came up, “Tomin…”
She nodded. “I haven’t thought about him since Adria mentioned that he was
alive, and I just realized that I had flashbacks of him when my memory was
gone. The images made me feel frustrated, almost angry. I didn’t know who he
was, but I resented him.”
Daniel suddenly felt very hot, and he squeezed his eyes shut tight and asked
the question he needed to know the answer to.
“Do you love him?”
Daniel felt the bed move and Vala turned to look at him. His eyes still shut,
she placed her hand gently on his face in that familiar action she so loved to
do. He opened his eyes.
Vala chose her words carefully. “No, I don’t love…him.”
Vala sucked in a harsh breath and slowly inched her face closer to his. He let
her. When their lips met it was barely a connection at all, but Vala pulled
back. “Thank you for always rescuing me.”
Daniel took a deep breath and let it out in a dramatic fashion. He ran his hand
up her arm, closing his eyes and reveling in the feel of her soft and warm
skin. When he reached her neck, Daniel pulled her toward him and hugged her.
He pulled away breathing rapidly, his heart pounding loudly. “I’ll keep
rescuing you if you promise never to get lost again.”
Vala laughed. “Oh Daniel, of course I wont be going anywhere…Earth is the only
place with chocolate.”
CHAPTER 2: Ticklish
“Saaaaaammmmm…” Daniel sulked into Sam’s lab, his steps a
little heavier than usual, and a clear pout on his face.
“Wow.” She said. “You are seriously channeling Jack right now, and I have to
say, I’m a little scared.”
He shot her a cold glare but continued with his rant. “You know it wasn’t a
date right?!”…a hopeful look on his face.
Sam laughed out loud, but caught her self, quickly hiding her laughter with a
forced cough. “Daniel…” She hid another giggle behind her coffee cup. “It’s
perfectly ok if it was a date. Trust me. No one is going to hold it against you
if you want to take Vala out.”
Daniel just rolled his eyes and sighed exaggeratedly, but it was clear that
Sam’s words meant something to him. Vala bounced in.
“Oh I’m sorry.” She began. “Am I interrupting?”
Sam smiled. “Nope, not at all.” Daniel glared at her again.
Vala brushed past him, running one slender finger along the delicate crevice
where his black t-shirt met his belt. “Hello darling.” Daniel held his breath
until she had passed.
Finally arriving at Sam’s side, Vala touched her shoulder. “I wanted to thank
you Sam for helping me in the bathroom at dinner yesterday.” She shrugged and
smiled sheepishly.
“Oh don’t worry about it.” She wrapped her arm around Vala’s slender waist.
“Unfortunately there’s going to be some things Teal’c’s books can’t teach you
about Earth culture.” At the end of her sentence Sam winked at Vala, and Daniel
nearly gasped at this unusual action from his long time friend.
Partly jealous and partly worried that Vala would rub off even more on Sam,
Daniel pulled the dark haired vixen away, and whisked her out into the hall.
When they stopped Vala gave him her most confused look and then grinned when
she realized he was still holding on to her.
“Jealous?” She giggled.
He roughly released his grip on her arm. “No, of course I’m not jealous. I just
remembered I needed you to help me with something.”
“Oh yea? What’s that?”
He stammered for something, finally huffing loudly and stomping off, shouting:
“It wasn’t a date!”
* * * *
It was a good four hours later when he found her in his own lab. Vala was
asleep on the couch, a book twice the size of her laying heavily on her chest.
He gently lifted the book. It was old and dusty, just the type of thing Vala
constantly made fun of him about, and he saw that is was one of Merlin’s
journals that he’d brought back from Camelot. Daniel sighed, and slowly moved a
piece of her long thick hair away from her face. He would never understand her.
Daniel picked her up in his arms, and sat back down on the couch, cradling her.
She shifted, laying a delicate hand on his chest, and nestling her head against
her shoulder. His left hand was gently rubbing her back, and Daniel sighed
happily, allowing himself to shut his eyes.
Vala awoke slowly but instantly knew where she was. The warmth radiating from
Daniel’s body next to hers was strong, and his arm was wrapped around her
tightly, the other resting carefully under her knees. Vala freed a hand to play
with his hair, and she smiled. The gentle rhythm of Daniel’s heart thumping in
his chest urged Vala closer, and she shifted, waking him.
She couldn’t see his face, but a sudden tensing of his whole body told him he’d
just realized where he was and what he was doing. Vala smiled again.
Momentarily she contemplated pretending to be asleep again, but just continued
to wriggle her fingers through his hair, making her presence known.
Daniel held his breath, then tentatively spoke: “Oh uh, I’m sorry. I must have
fallen asleep on my way to take you to your quarters.” Daniel was horrible at
lying, and he felt Vala giggle against him. “What? You don’t believe me?”
Vala moved away from him so he could see her face, and grinned at him. She
expected the rolling of eyes but she didn’t expect him to shove her down into
the couch and start tickling her. She fought the urge to laugh and flailed her
fists at him wildly to no avail.
She couldn’t hold it in any more and Vala shrieked as her nerves were
overloaded, and she laughed heartily as he continued to poke at her stomach.
“You stop it!” She shouted, gasping for air. Daniel laughed and grinned happily
at himself. She uttered empty threats between laughs:
“I’m…..going……to..get..you…..for…..this!”
The tickling subsided when she finally landed a weak jab at his kidney, and he
collapsed on top of her. Their foreheads touched, and the only thing that
pierced the silence was their heavy breathing. They stared at each other, faces
millimeters apart, and Vala brought her self up to close the gap, nuzzling his
nose with hers.
Daniel tried to think of a reason not to kiss her, franticly searching for
something, anything, but his mind was completely blank, the only thing
comprehendible was the rapid thumping of his own heart, and her warm breath
against his lips. He dove in, head first and kissed her so passionately that
Vala was caught off guard even though she’d been secretly preparing herself for
just such an event. She kissed him back, enjoying every second of the warmth,
reveling in the way his strong hands caressed her tiny frame. Vala brought both
hands up to cup his face, and wrapped a leg around his waist. His hand quickly
grabbed hold of her leg hard, pulling her closer to him. They broke for only
seconds for air, and quickly resumed the hot almost sloppy kisses.
Daniel was slightly forceful, pressing her hard into the couch as he captured
her mouth and gripped her hip. Vala began to feel nervous. From anyone else’s
perspective she knew it looked like this could lead somewhere much more
dangerous. She pulled back, breathing heavily and shaking beneath Daniel’s
strong grip. He looked at her puzzled, and his eyes were darker, his expression
fierce and hungry. Vala ran a delicate thumb over his lips and smiled at him,
and almost instantly, as if snapping out of some trance, his expression
softened, and he smiled back.
Daniel moved off her, collapsing at the other end of the couch. “Oh boy.” He
said.
“Oh boy indeed.” Vala stood, fixing her hair a little. She moved to stand in
front of Daniel’s slumped form on the couch. His glasses were still crooked on
his face, and his hair slightly messed where she was playing with it.
“Vala…..I…”
She silenced him. “Daniel I’m hungry.”
He stood, straightened his glasses and grabbed Vala’s hand, escorting her
toward the commissary. She attempted to straighten his hair, and gave up when
he wouldn’t stand still.
He held her hand at least 20 feet from his office before letting go.
CHAPTER 3: The Fair
“Oy Vala! Get up!”
Vala felt a sharp poke on her cheek and she squinted. Stretching and yawning, she slowly opened her eyes to find that she had been draped casually over Daniel, who was sleeping slumped over on the counter in his lab.
Also startled by the shouting, Daniel yawned and sat up, noticing the three confused faces staring at him.
Vala patted him on the shoulder. “Boy Daniel, we really should stop sleeping together before we’re married.”
Daniel sighed an angry exaggerated sigh and shot her a deadly glare.
“So uh…” Cameron tried really hard not to laugh at the expression on Teal’c’s face. “You guys too tired to go to the fair?”
“Oh of course not!” Vala blurted, and quickly grabbed her coat, joining Sam and Teal’c at the door. Sam gave her a knowing grin, and Vala just shrugged.
* * * *
….the day before….
The local fair had come into town 3 days ago, and Vala hadn’t even said a word about it. Daniel had taken notice of the event as well, and was waiting for at least a question or a few batted eyelashes from Vala asking him to take her, but she never mentioned it.
Finally he gave in. “So Vala,” He asked. “Do you know about the fair that’s in town this week?”
Vala seemed uninterested, intensely flipping through a magazine.
Daniel squinted and sighed. “Well…it’s a large outdoor event, that usually happens annually, with food and games, and rides, and lots of people come from miles around to experience it.” He looked her up and down.
“Uh huh.” Vala got up and went over to the couch, stretching her long legs out and yawning.
“Don’t you want to go?” He drew out the “go” a little. “You’re always bugging me to take you off base.”
“Eh, I don’t know. I doesn’t matter Daniel.”
Daniel threw his hands up in frustration. “Well maybe I want to go.” She didn’t say a word. “Fine! I’ll buy you something if you go to the fair.” Daniel sighed.
Vala stood from the couch and approached him, lightly tossing her magazine on the counter and sitting on the stool next to Daniel’s. “That’s all you had to say Darling.”
“Ugh…”
Vala grinned and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “What are you reading?”
Daniel yawned a huge yawn and shrugged Vala’s arm off himself. “I’m reading up on Morgan Lefay again. This is kind of interesting actually, listen to this…”
Vala gave Daniel and exaggerated bored expression, and then yawned as well. He just rolled his eyes and began to read to her.
* * * *
Teal’c locked up his SUV with the handy little button on his keychain as the new, larger, and better than ever according to Vala, Sg-1 headed inside the fair.
“Wow, ten bucks for parking…this is gonna hurt.”
Teal’c nodded toward
Cameron pointed at Daniel, realizing what Teal’c meant. “Haha! You have to pay for Vala.”
Daniel glared at him. “You know…I could kill you with my brain.”
Cameron promptly shut up and moved on. Daniel cracked his neck and winced in pain.
“Does your neck hurt Daniel?” Sam asked.
“Yea…a lot. Must have been how I slept last night.”
“Say…” Sam knew she was on thin ice, but she couldn’t help herself. “How did you two fall asleep like that?”
Daniel threw his head back and sighed heavily and loudly. “I
don’t know! All I know is that I was reading something to Vala about Morgan
Lefay, and then I woke up to Mr. Sarcasm in my face.” He gave Cameron a
sarcastic smile and
“Ok...” Sam genuinely accepted the explanation. ”But that doesn’t explain how Vala fell asleep…”
Vala giggled and her eyebrows rose higher than Daniel had ever seen. “Are you kidding Sam? Did you miss the part about Daniel…reading out loud…about Morgan Lefay?!”
“Oh I see.” Offered Teal’c.
“Can we just go inside please?” Daniel pleaded, and Sam gave him a reassuring pat on the back as if to say “Well I don’t think you’re boring.”
* * * *
Once inside the fair, Vala was overwhelmed by the multitude of smells and colors and shiny things everywhere. She grabbed Daniel’s arm, put on her sweetest smile and pointed at the huge ferris wheel.
He couldn’t help but smile back at her. Here in this setting with her t-shirt and jeans on and pink flip flops, and that amazing smile…she really looked normal, and it made Daniel happy he could give her this. “Let’s save that for later. It lights up at night and it looks really amazing. Trust me.”
Cameron dragged them to practically all the rides, the Tilt-a-Whirl twice, and then everyone stood by slightly annoyed and extremely jealous as Teal’c won goldfish after goldfish at the ring toss game.
“Do you really need that many Teal’c?” Daniel asked.
“Well he tried a more exotic fish in the tank last week and it ate all the little ones.” Sam offered.
Daniel nodded feeling a bit aggravated that Teal’c hadn’t told him about the fish. Perhaps he was more aggravated at himself for not spending more time with his friend. He sighed.
Once Teal’c had collected a sufficient amount of goldfish, the five of them headed toward the various food stands to satisfy their growling stomachs.
Sam had a small plate of Chinese egg rolls,
Vala was still deciding what she wanted...dragging Daniel by his coattails the whole way. Finally they returned to the table where the rest of the team was. Vala carrying the large bright blue stuffed frog that Daniel had won for her and munching on a chocolate covered frozen banana. Daniel however, was barely holding onto a funnel cake, cotton candy, a large burrito, and nachos.
“Oh you are so going to barf later.”
Once everyone was done eating, they finally made their way over toward the ferris wheel just as the sun was going down and the lights came on.
“Oh wow.” Vala said. “You were right Daniel, that’s beautiful.” She smiled looking up at the huge glowing wheel.
Daniel grabbed her hand and led her toward one of the two
person baskets stretched out along the wheel, throwing coats toward Teal’c who
was sitting at a nearby bench with his fish. Sam and
All the way up to the top Vala was switching from side to side, enjoying the view from every possible direction, and smiling happily at the gentle rock of the basket that her moving had caused. She finally sat down next to Daniel as they approached the top unconsciously letting her hand fall casually on his thigh while taking in the view of the city below.
Vala finally spoke: “Wow…this is…”
“Romantic?” Daniel placed his hand over hers and squeezed it a little.
Vala turned to him a little surprised but gently smiled and nodded. “Yea, it is.”
Daniel pulled her into his arms and gently nuzzled his face against Vala’s neck, enjoying the warmth among the cool breeze, and letting his head rest on her shoulder.
“Vala?” Daniel’s voice was barely more than a whisper.
“Hmm?”
“Would you like to go out with me sometime? On a date?”
Vala smiled and blushed a little; her pale skin turned a gentle shade of pink. She turned her head until their faces met, skin so close Daniel could feel the heat radiating from her face. “Yes Daniel, I would like that very much.”
He blushed and smiled and Vala couldn’t help but laugh.
Suddenly her expression changed and she looked like she felt very uncomfortable. Vala grabbed her stomach and scrambled away from Daniel, shoving her face over the edge of the basket just in time to get sick all over the ride operator as they came to a stop.
Vala turned back to Daniel, clamping a hand over her mouth and wearing the most embarrassed look on her face. He decided it was the cutest she’d ever looked, and he smiled and offered up her stuffed frog.
“At least he’s ok, right?”
She smiled. “Colonel Mitchell is never going to let me live this one down.”
CHAPTER 4: Vala Troubles
Daniel was ridiculously tired. So tired that it took him more than a few seconds to notice the timid Sergeant who’d stalked into his office to collect the gear he’d forgotten to check in after the mission. He didn’t want to do anything. He just wanted to stretch out on that awkward couch in his lab and never get up; just forget about the Merlin’s weapon, and the Ori and the Lucian Alliance, and Vala…
His thoughts briefly drifted to that oh so dangerous corner in his mind set aside for what had become “Vala troubles”, and his brows quickly merged together as he scowled at the very thought that there was such a place. He thought about the mission, and how good she was at what she did. The lying, cheating people, coercing information from poor helpless men…it all came like second nature to her. He sighed. Daniel knew he was wrong about her. Vala wasn’t doing that for herself. She was helping Sg-1. She was part of Sg-1, and she was doing all she could to rescue a friend, yet he still let those thoughts come easily. He knew his accusation that she’s pocketed some of the naquada the SGC had given her was completely out of the ballpark before he’d said it, but it came out anyway. He was falling back on his old ways and acting like a complete child, and he knew it. Perhaps he was jealous. Yea right. That wasn’t even a possibility in Daniel’s mind.
The fact was that he’d finally made the choice to let Vala in. He was going to trust her and care about her, and put his heart on the line, and now he was scared out of his mind and he wanted to back out.
Just then, Vala bounced in.
Of course. He thought.
Oh God help him, she was wearing leather. Why on Earth was she wearing leather? Vala looked like she was going to some intergalactic party, hair up in a curly pony tail, leather pants wrapped tightly around her hips, and…was that?...yes, it was a Led Zeppelin t-shirt. Daniel was slightly nervous.
“Hey you ok? You look awful.” She asked.
He sat up, straightening his army green button down shirt and putting on his most professional face. “Yea, fine, just tired.”
“Well,” She took a seat next to him, making sure to leave enough space so his obvious bad mood didn’t rub off on her. Vala held her breath for a moment. “I don’t know if you remember, but our date was supposed to be tonight, and well…Sam’s not feeling so hot after what happened on the Odyssey, so we’re going out for a movie and some coffee. Sorry I have to cancel,” She stretched one arm out and patted his thigh, once, twice, smiling. “but you know, we can always reschedule I’m sure.” She stood and collected herself to leave. “Hope you didn’t have any big plans for us.”
She bounced back out.
Wait a minute.
Daniel’s jaw was suddenly hanging slightly agape. Did he just get blown off by Vala? Yes, yes that had happened. Daniel quickly replaced his confusion with the tiniest amount of admiration. Ok fine, he allowed himself to be proud of her again, and filed Vala’s date with Sam away in the “Vala surprises Daniel yet again” section in his memories. He would have to remember to add something about that in his journal.
* * * *
Moments later Daniel found his sneakers, some sweatpants and a sleeveless t-shirt and made his way to Cameron’s office.
He walked right in. Cameron was watching TV, of course. “I need basketball,” He said. “now preferably.”
Cameron had to twist his head a good 95 degrees to see
Daniel standing in the doorway. “Dude it’s like
“Mitchell…are you going to play or what?”
Cameron could never pass up an opportunity to school
Daniel also visited Teal’c and managed to drag him from his workout to play too.
* * * *
“So,” Cameron began, “every man for himself?”
“You bet.” Daniel snatched the ball from his hands.
A few rougher than necessary fouls and 20 baskets later, Cameron was ahead by two, Teal’c barely participating, and Daniel close behind Cam, determined to best him.
“So what’s wrong with you?” Cameron asked, shooting a
quizzical look at
“What do you mean?” He takes advantage of Mitchell’s talking to score on him again.
“Well you barge in my office demanding basketball at
Teal’c took this opportunity to sit down, and nearly escaped getting clobbered in the back with the ball that was flying hard toward the back wall. He looked at Daniel, who gave an apologetic look and collapsed in the middle of the court, completely sprawled out. Cameron took a cautious seat next to Teal’c.
Daniel sighed. He didn’t like talking about his personal life, especially since all of a sudden his personal life had become Vala. He laid one arm lazily over his eyes, shielding himself from everything.
“I was under the impression that things were going well between you and ValaMalDoran, DanielJackson.”
Cameron looked at Teal’c when he said this, in awe of the
Daniel sat up, using the arm that was previously sheltering him from the “Vala problems” at hand, to gently rub his eyes. “A little too well I guess Teal’c.”
Teal’c just nodded and smiled that soft smile that said he understood all too well. He knew there was nothing he could do to help his friend. Daniel needed to get over his fears on his own, and it had to start with accepting someone new into his heart despite the love he still felt for his dead wife.
Daniel stood and Cameron and Teal’c met up with him as they all left the court. Cameron gave Daniel one quick pat on the shoulder. “It’ll work itself out I’m sure.”
Daniel exhaled and smiled at them both, retreating to a warm shower.
* * * *
Hours later Daniel was lost in some ridiculous magazine Vala had left in his room, and he laughed at all the little thing’s she’d circled, articles and pictures, for later study he guessed. It didn’t even appear to him to question the fact that the magazine was in his room.
A faint knock at the door startled him. He looked at the
clock.
He opened the door to her, and smiled widely at the Led Zeppelin t-shirt and her now messy pony tail. She looked exhausted, but happy.
“Hey.” He said. “You’re back. How did it go?”
She shifted. “Good. I think Sam had fun. How was your evening?”
Daniel laughed a little. “Pretty good; Mitchell and Teal’c played some basketball with me.” She smiled, and he stepped aside ushering her inside. “You wanna come in?”
Vala took a moment to think, trying to read the silly expression on Daniel’s face. “Actually, I was just going to take a bath.”
He closed the gap left open when he’d invited her in. “Well I’ll be here…” He stumbled ever so slightly. “if you get bored or something.”
An open invitation to entertain her, had never before presented itself, and Vala knew something good must have happened while she was away. I didn’t matter what, she was grateful regardless.
He closed the door, finally ending the torturous heat that radiated between them and the lack of oxygen every time she was near. Each fell back on their respected sides for a moment of reflection and…breathing, leaving heavily on the cool metal.
It was only twenty minutes later that Vala found her way back to his room. Bouncing as much as possible every step of the way, she climbed over him and onto the other side of the bed, snatching the magazine out of his hands and giggling.
CHAPTER 5: Glaring
AUTHOR’S NOTES: I posted a poll on my LJ about this
series and the overwhelming majority voted for me to continue this series and
take it AU if need be, so you asked for it and you got it. :D Also, some
mentions of Cam/Lam ship in here because I refuse to give up on them, and hints
at Cam/Daniel friendship because men that hot should naturally spend the night
at each other's houses every once in a while.
* * * *
Cameron was still smirking when he and Daniel finally reached the infirmary. He
didn’t shut up the whole car ride back to the base from the park where they
were playing with Cassie’s dog, and he found it necessary to point out every
few minutes that Daniel was probably going to have to get a shot.
Daniel was still rubbing his eyes and sighing needlessly in the doorway, when
Vala sauntered away from the bed she was perched on, and made her way into his
space.
“Whoa.” He said, finally seeing what was right in front of him. “What are you
doing here? Are you sick?”
She laid a hand lazily on his chest and examined his injured hand with the
other. “Of course not darling, I’m perfect…as usual.”
“Remember Vala, TWO WEEKS.” A voice came from across the room. “So you got bit
by a dog?”
Daniel jumped a little at Carolyn Lam’s interjection, and looked at Vala
questioningly. She flashed him a huge grin, of course, and sauntered out of the
infirmary, making very sure not to touch him as she slithered past.
“Have a seat Dr. Jackson.” Carolyn spoke again, and Daniel was suddenly pulled
away from his thoughts where he was jumbling snakes, Vala, and Goa’uld into one
very confused image. He tried very hard to wipe the confused look from his face
that he knew would only provoke Cameron more, and sat down on the bed that had
just occupied Vala. It was warm beneath him. She must have been there a while.
Carolyn reached for Daniel’s injured hand and began inspecting it, only to turn
slightly and give Cameron an annoyed look as he was hovering obviously over her
shoulder. He scooted Daniel over and sat on the bed, annoyed.
“Ok well the bite doesn’t look bad at all, but I’m going to give you a Tetanus
shot anyway.”
Daniel groaned and Cameron squealed.
“That’ll be five bucks please.” Cameron held his hand out toward Daniel and grinned.
Daniel slapped it away, glaring at Dr. Lam and pulling up the sleeve of his
shirt.
“So what was Vala doing here? Is she ok?” He asked, half actually expecting an
answer, and half knowing he was wasting his breath.
Carolyn gave him that you’ve got to be kidding me look he saw all too often on
her father’s rather bland face. “You know I can’t tell you that Daniel.”
He was a little shocked that she used his first name, but then again he was the
first person Cameron confessed to that he was seeing the general’s daughter,
and it pleased him more to be referred to by his given name rather than the
title he found so little use for these days.
“Well…” He had to try… “I am Vala’s guardian of sorts. Don’t you think I should
know if something is wrong with her?” Daniel shrugged. Cameron rolled his eyes
at the half assed attempt to wrangle information from the most tightlipped
member of the SGC staff. Seriously, the woman NEVER gossiped, it was weird.
“You’ll have to take that up with the general. If he says you need to know,
then I’ll tell you, but otherwise…you know the rules.”
Cameron jumped off the bed to stand next to his kind-of-girlfriend, and
snickered. “I know what it was about.” Arms crossed tightly across his chest.
“But of course I can’t tell you.”
“You can be ridiculously annoying at times, did you know that?”
“I try.” Another smirk.
“Why can’t you tell me, and why do you know about this…whatever it is…and I
don’t?”
“What can I say, I guess I’m a very easy to talk to guy.”
Carolyn caught herself laughing and discreetly retreated to her office having
sufficiently bandaged up Daniel.
“Seriously
“Oh thanks that makes me feel a lot better.” Daniel hopped off the bed and
headed for the door.
“You’re a linguist right, why don’t you just ask her about it?”
Daniel shrugged and then nodded in agreement.
* * * *
They decided fancy restaurants weren’t really their thing anyway. The Trust’s
plans were successfully thwarted for the time being, but Daniel didn’t want to
take any chances any way, so he decided for their first complete and real date,
he would rather just take her home; to his home, where she could carefully
observe all his baggage, good or bad, although at the moment he was seriously
feeling awkward around her. He decided of course, to not say anything about it.
Vala loved to talk, if there was something to talk about regarding a certain
visit to a certain doctor’s infirmary, then she’d be bound to mention it right?
Right?
Much to his chagrin and surprise, she hadn’t said a word about it, rather
making small and meaningless comments about their work, or babbling about
something or other that happened on Grey’s Anatomy last night. But then again,
should he really have been surprised, Vala was after all, simply the best at
pushing his buttons. Was she messing with him?
When he brought her to his home, she casually made herself comfortable,
relaxing on the couch flipping through channels on the television while he
fiddled in the kitchen. He was incredibly annoyed with her, but couldn’t help
smile when she practically shouted excitement upon finding reruns of The
Crocodile Hunter.
He plopped down on to the couch next to her, slightly exaggerating the action
in a weak attempt to attract her attention. Perhaps if she saw him she’d
instantly remember she had something to tell him.
“Dinner’s going to be about 15 minutes.” He said plainly.
“Ok.”
Nope, she didn’t look over.
They weren’t sitting very close, and he stretched his arm out along the back of
the couch, making a point to play with a few strands of her silky black hair.
She still didn’t look away from the TV. Inside he was secretly fantasizing
about punching her in the face.
“So you really have nothing to say to me?”
“Honestly Daniel you act like I owe you something.” Oh then she was looking at
him. Glaring might be a more appropriate term. “Just because General Landry
says you have to look after me doesn’t mean you need to know every detail about
my personal life. I’d really expect more decency from you.”
Uh… was about all that came to mind for the last few seconds of her lingering
look. “I’m sorry?” He uttered, and immediately he knew it was a stupid
question. He’d understood everything she’d said. “I’m sorry, I guess, I…I’m
just slightly confused here.”
She turned to look at him again. Her look was slightly softer, but the affect
was still there. He stammered for the right words under her intense glare.
“I just thought it was odd that something was going on with you and you didn’t
tell me about it. I waited all day for you to say something, but you never
did.” His voice was small, and hid slight undertones of jealousy.
She did something then that both surprised and comforted him. Vala inched
closer to him until she could swing her legs over his lap and rest her head on
his shoulder. His hand had followed her hair, and was still playing with the
soft pieces. She laid that delicate hand on his chest again, and Daniel
breathed for the first time in at least thirty seconds.
“I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first.” Her voice was soft and sweet,
and Daniel felt a wave of relief flow over him. “It’s just…” She struggled, and
now Daniel understood what Cameron had meant by close.
Daniel gently moved her face with his wrapped up hand until it was fully in his
view, moving the other hand to her waist. “Vala, you know you can talk to me
about anything.”
She smiled at him, and although it was not his favorite smile, Daniel knew it
was the one that only came out for him, and it was moving pretty fast up his
list of favorite Vala faces.
“Oh trust me Daniel, this is a subject I hope to be getting into great detail
about…”
Oh my…his name drifted from her mouth in that incredibly sexy tone that pulled
at his inhibitions so roughly, and Daniel was choking down the urge to capture
her mouth when her lips gently brushed his, lingering for only a moment before
she pulled back.
“Hey, do you smell that? I think something is burning.”
“Arg!” He shouted, shoving Vala off his lap and stomping off toward the
kitchen. “This is not my day!”
AUTHOR’S NOTES: spoilers for this story maybe....lol.
incase you didn't get it, Vala was visiting Dr. Lam for birth control. she's
not a hoe or anything, and she's not just interested in JUST sex any
more, trust me, she just read something about it in a magazine, asked
CHAPTER 6: Doodling
Daniel Jackson does not doodle. If called upon to put
his artistic talents to use, it is for a purpose, to record his findings, to
make up for the lack of a camera. Daniel Jackson does not put pen to
paper mindlessly, allowing his subconscious to take control of the marks left
behind.
At the time, he wasn't paying attention when Cameron came bounding into his
lab...followed by Sam shaking her head in disapproval. Luckily he was quick
enough to shove the notebook under the desk before they saw. He hoped.
"
Sam looked at Cameron quizzically. "Wow
Daniel was still sitting at his desk doing his best to look nonchalant.
"Yea guys, I'll meet you there in a minute ok?"
"What are you hiding under there?"
“Hiding? What makes you think I’m hiding something?” Daniel replied, and
when he heard Cameron snort in the doorway he gave him a hard glare.
Sam approached the desk, standing toward the side trying to peer beneath.
Daniel tried vainly to push himself further under the desk.
"Daniel...You've never hidden anything from me. Is everything ok?"
He began to feel slightly guilty, so he gave Sam a small smile, relaxing in his
seat and loosening his grip on the notebook. "Yea Sam, of course. I just
want to finish up something here."
She smiled at him and moved toward the door. Cameron approached undetected from
the other side of the desk and snatched the notebook from where it was held
loosely in Daniel's lap.
"Damn it Mitchell!" Daniel reached out to grab the notebook back, but
Cameron was already half way across the room sifting through the pages. Daniel
stood there, hands on his hips attempting his most threatening look. "Do
not make me kick your ass Mitchell."
Sam's giggle was barely covered by
Cameron flipped through the pages, finding many full of ancient writing and
even more covered in illegible scribblings but he found one near the back that
was set apart from the rest. He examined it closely, all the while ignoring the
irritated sighs coming from
"Daniel plus Vala equals heart?" He smiled at Daniel. "Vala
Jackson eh? Fantasizing in between saving the world
Daniel stormed over to Cameron, whose grin threatened to split his face as he
stood in the corner, snatched the notebook from
"That was not nice Colonel!"
Cameron laughed and shrugged. "He'll get over it. But that was weird
wasn't it? I mean doodling does not seem very
"Wait a minute." Sam forhead crinkled.
Cameron shook his head and laughed. "No way. There is no way
Sam began outright laughing.
"Damnit!"
Daniel Jackson does not doodle. He does not doodle about girls, and he certainly
does not doodle about girls named Vala MalDoran. Unless he's messing with some
slightly-too-nosey-for-their-own-good team members.
CHAPTER 7: Existing
Author’s Notes: WARNING here, this part has spoilers for The Quest Pt. 2, but if you've seen the preview or read a single spoiler then you know what's going on here.
She wanted to scream. Deep down she really really really
just wanted to scream as loud as possible, and yell, and stomp, and pound her
fists into the cold rock wall of the cavern. But she couldn't move. Vala was
still kneeling on the cold floor where she had caught Daniel's lifeless body as
he fell unconscious.
They were alone. Mitchell and Sam had gone off with Adria, and Teal'c with
Ba'al...all searching for a way out. Vala was frustrated. Here she was, with
her new coworkers, the makeshift team she referred to as 'those ridiculousTauri
', and they were searching for the one thing that could save this galaxy from
the enemy she and Daniel had invited here. She thought ofHarid and Sallus and
those days long past, and she suddenly felt aged.
On top of the intensity of their current mission, SG-1 had been interrupted by
some unlikely and very unwanted visitors along the way.Ba'al of course was a
strange companion for Vala to be around. He treated her as an enemy one came to
respect with age, and yet she'd done nothing to earn such respect nor the hate
that sparked their war, in the first place. Worst yet was the way he looked her
over as if he knew every delicate feature of her body and reveled in how it
made her sick to think of it. The intimate moments betweenBa'al and Quetesh
would always be crisp and clear in her mind and she loathed those particular
memories. Then there was Adria...the child ruler of theOri armies who wore
beautiful gowns and pretended she was an adult. But there was no point in
thinking about Adria any longer, soon enough they would all face the
consequences of this.
* * * *
Vala felt her legs going numb, and shifted, holding Daniel's head delicately as
she moved, leaning heavily against the cold wall near by. He stirred and Vala
held her breath, but he did not wake, and she exhaled slowly.
Daniel. Daniel was the worst part of this particular predicament. He'd given
himself up to the Ancient repository and now he lay unconscious in her
lap...the only chance for their survival. As he lay there, the key to defeating
the Ori locked somewhere in his head, Vala was reminded of what Adria had said
some few weeks ago. They had plans for him. A sudden bout of fear overcame her,
and she squeezed her eyes shut hard. Adria had come here to take Merlin's
weapon from them; to destroy the one threat against her gods, and now that
power was somewhere in Daniel's mind. Would Adria take Daniel from her?
* * * *
Daniel found it hard to open his eyes. His eyelids were heavy and it took all
his effort to force himself awake. He looked up and saw Vala. She was deep in
thought and her eyes were glossy with tearsun-shed. She looked beautiful
though.
He decided to interrupt. "Hey what'd I miss?" His tone was cheerful
despite and circumstances, and after the initial shock, Vala looked down at him
and smiled.
"Oh you know the usual. Galaxy needs saving still." She stretched
beneath him.
Daniel tried a laugh and found his throat dry and cold. He sat up slowly,
rubbing the top of his head. "Ow."
"Does your head hurt?" Vala moved to a kneeling position behind him,
her right hand bracing his back, helping him sit up.
He turned back to look her and nodded, still massaging his head. Vala giggled.
"What?" He asked.
She laughed again pulling his hand away. "Nothing, you just messed up your
hair."
He gave her a small smile and silence fell upon them. It was becoming a
familiar silence. The one that existed when neither wanted to say what they were
thinking. Usually there was a book to distract or jell-o to be eaten, but not
here. They were stuck in a dark cold cave on some planet that was nowhere near
home, and all they had was themselves and the weight of the world.
Vala winced at her aching muscles and Daniel wandered aimlessly, occasionally
rubbing his sore head. They avoided each other's glances and pretended that
Daniel wasn't going to die. Oh that too was on Daniel's mind. Did Vala have any
idea of what his actions really meant?
Of course she did, but he didn't know that. How could one exist in the same
space as Cameron Mitchell and not hear on of General O'Neill's saving the world
stories on a weekly basis.
She broke the silence, still collapsed on the floor in a heap of tired.
"How can you do this?"
Daniel stopped where he was examining a particularly exciting piece of rock,
and looked at Vala, his expression was pure innocent confusion and it almost
stifled the ache in her heart. "Do what?"
"How can you be so brave?" She smiled at him weakly despite the tears
forming in her eyes. "How can you face the end of the world over and over
again and keep going?"
Daniel sat beside her and took Vala's hand in his. He didn't look at her.
"It's not about being brave Vala. It's about wanting to know that there
will be a tomorrow...for me, for you...for everyone." He pulled her into
his arms. "I was given an opportunity to shape the future when I joined
SG-1. I'm going to do whatever I can to make sure Earth is around for that
future. All I can do is hope that each experience makes me better at my
job."
Vala had curled up against Daniel and now found herself gripping his t-shirt
tightly. "But what if I'm not capable of that Daniel?" She sighed.
"After being Quetesh's host I changed. I turned to pety theft and lies to
gain just an ounce of happiness, and I was happy. I thought I was happy at
least. I was good at what I did and I had everything I wanted, but then I met
you and I found out that my happiness was nowhere near what it could be, and I
think I'm a better person..." Vala pulled herself up, looking Daniel in
the face. "...because of you. But this...this is too much for me Daniel. I
can't be Adria's mother and I can't be a member of SG-1. I don't think I can
handle all this Daniel. I'm not like you." Daniel tried to shush her but
she continued on. "What if after all this I become something worse than a
thief. What if I can't handle the pressure and I just break. I'm not meant for
such important work." Tears were falling freely from her eyes now and Vala
swiped at them furiously. "What am I going to do without you?"
Daniel pulled Vala back into his embrace, gripping her tightly. "You know
how I know you're going to make it through this ok?" He smiled.
"Because you don't need me; because even if I'm gone you can be the
amazing person I know you are, and no matter what...I will never stop loving
you."
To be continued…
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